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Call a doctor my face has literally fallen off!! Ok that’s a bit of an exaggeration but in all sincerity, I’ve played 30+ online tournaments in three weeks and have been extremely successful. I’ve made 10 final tables a 6th, 5th, 2x 4th, 3rd, 3x 2nd (including a chop) and 2x 1st places!! I won 69 mbtc more than doubling on online bankroll, bringing it to 128 mbtc. I’ve had most of my success in 6max tournament format, I chopped a 5 chip 6max tournament heads up on a Saturday and won it outright the next day!!

I also played 2 “live” tournaments during these 3 weeks, and had no success. I headed down to Morongo Casino and tried my luck at one of there daily $45 morning tournaments and proceeded to get my flush chased down by a 2 early position players trips when the board paired on the river. I rebought for $20 and played tight for about an hour, then I finally shoved my last 11bb’s with A4 in the big blind and got called by AJ and I was out. I also played the Sunday 5k guarantee at Pechanga and played super aggressively. I raised and reraised every chance I got and build a loose, crazy image. I shoved all-in preflop with AA and got called by a bigger stack’s QQ, I was looking and feeling good till the queen came on the the flop and I was out!

I did play one $1/$2 nlhe live cash game session at Pechanga and had great success winning $254 =127 big blinds!! My first hour was boring and uneventful, it consisted of 1 or 2 won small pots and lots of folding! I took a break and came back to the table to find a few new faces and also the table dynamics had totally changed. I started catching cards and made the nut flush on the river to crack a set of kings and I also won a nice pot with quad 3’s. I owe my low limit cash game success to being patient, waiting out the fishes is one of the major characteristics that all winning poker players possess, the kids call it “old man game”.

Overall I had some had some decent success, nothing to quit my job over but I feel like I’m setting a strong foundation. This path I look to journey down is full of pitfalls and obstacles and all this experience that I’m gaining by “grinding my face off ” will do nothing but bring me one step closer to that BIG score that we all chase.

Big or small, tournament victories are hard to come by. Winning makes all the difference. Long hours at the computer screen or at the felt can seem pointless without the victory. Being the last player left in a tournament is the best feeling ever, it means no ones skill or luck could overcome you that day.

These two weeks back at the grind have pretty tough but I have shown some profit. I played 15 tournaments, made 6 final tables, I got a 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and I got two 1st places! I also ran deep in a 10BTC guarantee freeroll placing 54/600 players. I won 39 mbtc almost tripling my online bankroll, man it feels good to run hot! I had a great 2 weeks and I owe it all to devoting myself to my craft.

I want to congratulate the 2014 WSOP APAC Main Event Champion Scott Davies on joining the WSOP history books and taking home the coveted WSOP APAC Main Event bracelet. Earlier this week he blessed me with some wisdom as he also started as a low limit grinder himself.

I hope to one day follow the footsteps of Scott Davies and become a World Champion, but you have to remember first comes the hard work.

I’m back!!! Sorry for the wait, I’ve just been distracted by life. Exhaustion, work, and a crappy social life has been taking up most of my time. I’ve been very distracted and my game has definitely suffered. I lost 80% of my online bankroll by taking shots in bigger games and playing when not feeling 100%. I totally tilted and strayed away from my profitable hyperaggressive style.

The huge swings in the higher buy- in tournaments caught up to me and ate my bankroll up, but I did have some nice results. I won a 5 chip 6max tournament for my biggest bitcoin cash and multiple other small cashes but nothing like I know I can accomplish.

I currently have 20 mbtc in my online account and I plan to follow a strict bankroll management plan and return to the profitable path I was following before I lost my focus. One highlight is my cash game skill has improved drastically, a tight aggressive ABC style shows consistent profit in the lower limit games because the players are extremely weak and will call you down with anything so don’t bluff!!

My live game has improved drastically both in tournaments and cash games but only the cash sessions have shown profit. I’ve had some deep runs in 300+ player tournament fields at Pechanga Casino and a 15th place finish event 5 at the HPT at Agua Caliente casino, but bad luck and bad reads derailed any cashes or final tables.

Lately I have been profitable playing 1/2 NLH cash games. A super tight patient aggressive game is totally the right approach for these levels and it shows. I’m currently on a 6 game winning streak with a little over 400+ won!

So my time away has been a little up and down. I understand now that to be a professional you have to be a professional away from the tables. You can’t let anyone or anything get in the way of your dreams. Focus is easily lost if you allow distractions into your life.

2014 isn’t turning out to be so great, 6 months in and I’m already down $883! My online game has really taken off but my live game has taken a nose dive. I feel like not having a casino close to my house running cash games and tournaments is not allowing me to put in the heavy volume that you need to succeed at poker. Bad luck and bad play is also a cause of the problem, I estimate I’ve thrown away $515 due to bad play. I’ve played 13 tournaments and only cashed in 1 and I’ve played 3 cash game sessions winning 2 so it’s not really bad luck it’s amateur play.

Last year I lost a little over $100 playing a somewhat of a busy schedule, this year I’ve played significantly less but traveling and different stresses haven’t allowed me to get comfortable in the new rooms I’m playing in. I need to strongly consider getting professional coaching to help me improve my game and take it to the next level but my ego and pride plus money makes it hard to ask for help. This year I’ve also up’ed my tournament buy-ins, I traveled to the City of Commerce to play the Million guaranteed tournament at the LAPC for $150 (I finished 50 out of the money) the player that busted me went on the finish 3rd for 40k! I also played a couple $100 buy-in tournaments in surrounding Palm Springs casinos and Morongo Casino but I was unsuccessful in cashing in any. Those tournaments had some huge fields so I know variance also comes into play.

Playing the World Series has been my dream since I started playing and this year I actually got a chance to go. I failed to qualify for the $1500 event that I really wanted to enter while playing on wsop.com but I got a chance to play a $235 buy-in Rio deepstack event. My luck didn’t fair to well and I misplayed Aces after the first break and went busto vs A-5. I’ll use it as a learning experience but the good thing is I got to meet one of my favorite poker player personality’s Bryan “The Icon” Micon and I also totally enjoyed my vacation to the fullest.

I’ve decided to pull out $500 of my savings and dedicate myself to building it up playing $10-$50 tournaments twice a week and grinding at least 2 cash game session sessions a month. I will only play 1/2 nlhe at Pechanga before or after there $50 tournament and 2-4 limit at Morongo before there $10 Sunday tournament. I plan on playing 100 hand cash game sessions or 2 hours max and leaving if I lose my buy-in or if I double my money. I will also follow the hated Chris Ferguson bankroll plan and move up the limits accordingly.

Hopefully I stop playing like an idiot and my plan works and my luck turns around. Till next time good luck out there.

I started to put in the heavy online tournament volume in preparation for my Vegas trip but I’m still shaking off some rust. That 2 week break is really killing me, I’m currently in a 10 tournament losing streak. I can easily accumulate chips but my lack of playing time has caused some impatience, and I keep bluffing my stack halfways through the tournament. I know as long as I get used to playing my game again I’ll be okay plus all the 10 tournaments I played were freerolls so I still broke even. I also played 1 cash game session and won 1 mbtc bringing my online bankroll to 86.95 mbtc….Once I get to 100 mbtc I’m moving up the limits.

I played a live $10 Rebuy tournament at Morongo Casino Sunday and ran extremely well. I navigated myself through 60 players and made the final table with the chiplead! In these low limit tournaments the stacks are so shallow at the final table and the blinds escalate so rapidly that even though I had the chip lead I was still pretty short. I lost a big pot blind vs blind when I held JJ vs 10-7 all-in preflop. He flopped a full house. After that a conversation started regarding a chop 6-handed lol and we agreed at $138 a piece. If I would of won that pot with the Jacks I wouldn’t of chopped. I didn’t want to risk not cashing in the tournament with 4 BB’s as I’m trying to build back my bankroll so I didn’t want to gamble.

I feel pretty confident in my game and I feel playing online and putting in the heavy volume has helped me plug some leaks in my overall game. Now the next step the WSOP.

I’ve been taking some time away from poker lately, not because of losing streaks or anything I just want to be refreshed going into my Vegas trip in June. I’ve been doing some research on my tournament stats lately and found out I’ve played roughly 125 tournaments in 3 MONTHS! Cashing in 33 and winning 4. Over the years I’ve averaged playing 30 live tournaments a year so technically I gotten almost 4 years of tournament experience in 9 WEEKS! I have been feeling a bit overworked lately so I’ve decided to get as much rest as possible and get some live playing time in preparation for my Vegas trip and satelliting into the WSOP.

I’ve played couple Freerolls on Sealswithclubs with no results losing huge flips early. I plan on returning back to putting in the heavy volume before heading to Vegas because I will be playing a few tournaments WSOP.com while in Nevada and I want to be sharp. I did play a $50 buy-in 30 player home game and I felt my tournament experience I’ve gained has help me with my confidence and allowed me to spot situations to take advantage of with little to no resistance. 3rd place paid and I got 5 due to bad beats and lack of patience. I could of easily made the money but I kept playing the coin flip style. I was also on tilt due to not being used to playing live…I forgot how annoying people could be.

I week later had a deep run in Pechanga Casino’s Sunday $45 buy-in 5k guarantee. I brought my headphones to tune out the idiotic players that tried to get under my skin and it totally worked. I won some huge pots as a underdog but still I navigated myself skillfully through a tough field. Unfortunately I fell short from cashing, I placed 24th when 18 paid out of 188 runners. I had 7bb’s and raised to 3.5bb’s from early position with A-10 and got re-raised all in by an older gentleman and I called. He showed A-K, the board ran dry and I was out. I usually fold A-10 from early position but I took a chance of winning the blinds thinking the player’s at my table would fold due to being so close to the money.

I know my luck will change and I will eventually win a couple of these low-limit tournaments I just have to continue trying my hardest to improve my game. Not everything was bad though I had a nice session at 1/2 and won $100 with pocket aces!

I’m playing the best poker of my life right now. Yeah it’s against some of the weakest players and at the lowest limits online but a few months ago I was getting my ass handed to me playing the same limits! I owe all my success like I said before to changing my ABC style into a relentless controlled aggression style, combined with plenty of tournament experience. I’m also putting all my efforts on improving my cash game skills and I know with a little practice and a higher bankroll my results will improve.

This week I played 17 tournaments and I had 6 cashes. I had an 8th, 7th, 6th, 6th, 3th, & a 2nd winning 11.80 mbtc. In the tournament where I placed 2nd place I put my money in the middle with 18 outs on the flop but I just didn’t get there, or else I would be writing a very different blog! I feel like my tournament game is at a very high level right now, and it’s just a matter of time till I start moving up the stakes. I’m playing my best and I’m starting to recognize more betting patterns, timing tells, and other little nuances of the game that’s increasing my bankroll and increasing my confidence.

I also played 8 cash games sessions and won 4 but for only 1.08 mbtc. My cash game skills still need work, I dropped down to the lowest limits online and I saw a small profit. It could of been I little higher but constantly bluffing, mistakes, and bad luck really threw a wrench in that. I also had some crazy bad beats including AA losing to K-K twice!

Overall I had a decent week at the tables, I put in the heavy volume that I really wanted to do and I won 12.88 mbtc bringing my bankroll to 85.88 mbtc. I feel like I’m well on my way to finding that perfect balance and I’m excited to see some better results.